Running Blog

“Twas the week before lottery

‘Twas the week before lottery, when all through the lands, ultra runners were wondering about their 2014 plans.

The applications were submitted to the committees with care, in hopes that a buckle would soon be there.

This weekend, two of the most prestigious ultra marathon races will host their annual lotteries selecting their 2014 runners.

Western States 100 – The world’s oldest 100-mile trail race

The Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run (WS100) lottery will be live webcast on Sat., Dec. 7, 9 a.m. Pacific Time. More than 2,700 hopeful runners will be waiting in anticipation to see if they will be one of the only 369 runners who will toe the line at Squaw Valley in June.

To be considered for the WS100 lottery, runners must have completed a qualifying race set by the WS100 Board of Directors.

With the largest application base to date, a runner with one lottery ticket has a 6.5 percent chance of being selected. If a runner applied for the lottery last year and was not chosen and completed another qualifying race this year, they have a slightly increased chance of being chosen. And the odds increase slightly the more a runner has qualified in consecutive years, up to five years.

With three entries, Reece Catron, Fort Worth, has an 18.3 percent chance of being selected.

As with many runners, Catron’s entire race schedule is in limbo until the drawing as his first choice will no doubt be WS100.

“First, we wait on lotteries. Once our false hopes are smashed on the mantle of reality, then we have to register and get into Tahoe Rim 200,” said Catron.

Just like kids at Christmas time, ultra runners everywhere are waiting in anticipation. To celebrate the joyous occasion each year, Desiree Marek, Portland, Ore., joins a group of runners at a local pub to watch the drawing via webcast.

“Last year, there was a different exercise you had to do for every state from which a person was selected,” Marek said. “Prior to the party, a group of us are meeting in the dark hours to get our mileage in before the lottery starts.”

Due to the increase of applications every year for WS100, the WS100 Board made changes to the qualifying races beginning in 2015, most namely removing the 50-mile distance.

The qualifying standards for entering the lottery will now be a 100K finish in less than 16 hours or 100 mile finish in time allowed by that race. There are 63 races on the 2015 qualifying list, which includes “the largest trail 100 milers domestically, and the largest 100ks that are also of significant difficulty.”

Who will kiss the Hardrock?

Deb Pero kisses the Hardrock for the third time in July 2013. To officially finish Hardrock, you must kiss the Hardrock.

Also happening this weekend is the Hardrock 100-Mile Endurance Run (HR100) lottery. With only 140 starters, HR100 is even more difficult for a first time runner to get in with 1,265 total applications.

Seasoned ultra runner Drew Meyer has called HR100 “the cure for ultra running.” This race is what many consider the hardest 100-mile race in the United States with about 68,000 feet of total elevation change.

The race starts and ends in Silverton, Colorado (elevation 9,308 feet) and takes runners over 13 major passes between 12,000 and 13,000 feet. If that’s not difficult enough, runners must also summit one of Colorado’s 14,000-foot mountains, Handies Peak (elevation 14,048).

While the course record stands at 23:23, most runners finish at an average of 41 hours, with a course limit of 48 hours.

HR100 vetran Deb Pero, 58, New Mexico, has three finishes, two as the oldest female finisher in the history of the run. But Pero will be the first to tell you that she has not finished more times than she has finished.

“Only two of those times did injury or illness prevent me from completing the course,” Pero said. “The rest of those non-finishers were a lack of mental willingness to suffer—because you ARE going to suffer out there. That is a self-imposed suffering that adds to the difficulty of staying in the game.”

Pero explains that the first 50 miles might take her nearly 24 hours. And while she’s completed 100s in less than 24 hours, she’s only half way there.

“Running all day, then all night, and then all the next day really isn’t so awful,” Pero explained. “But going into that second night, no sleep, no rest, and the cumulative effect of the altitude, makes that second night a thing of monstrous difficulty.”

Pero climbs up Grant Swamp Pass during the course marking before the race. Its almost a quarter mile of climb, mostly needing four points of contact. Last year, this was mile 85.

While any 100-mile race is hard, HR100 is a special kind of hard.

“It pits you against yourself, against the relentless terrain, against the clock,” Pero explains. “To have finished Hardrock means you have faced the giants and not backed down.”

HR100 has also made changes to its qualifying races beginning in 2015, most notably removing Leadville 100 from the list (Click for previous story). Additionally, starting HR100 does not give you a qualifying race for the next lottery. In the past, if you started HR100 and did not finish, the race committee allowed you to use your HR100 start as a qualifying race for the next year.

With only a few more sleeps to see what comes…

Happy trails to all and to all a goodnight.

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Debbie Fetterman has begun her 15th year of covering the area's running and triathlon scenes for The Dallas Morning News. Many of the area's runners and triathletes, estimated to be 100,000 strong, seek out this weekly column every Friday for the latest news and notes about Dallas-Fort Worth area running and multi-sports events and participants.